Always the Heroes
by vindictive kitty
Summary: Post Chosen. Xander lets Hermione in on a couple of things as they watch The Boy Who Lived and The Girl Who Died.


I sat down to write another chapter of Little BrokenPieces. But then my muse led me far, far away. Hmm… Don't worry. It'll happen.

This oneshot takes place sometime post Chosen and four or five years after the war with Voldemort. This fic is unrelated toLittle BrokenPieces. Good thing too. For someone who's so for the Harry/Buffy ship, I sure do knock it a lot in this fic. Hope it doesn't ruin the mood for my other fic. Oh well, enjoy. I'm delirious.

Also, for the purposes of this fic,Kennedy and Willow aren't seeing each other anymore.

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**Always the Heroes **

Buffy grabbed an embarrassed Willow by the shoulders and led her away from the buffet table at a brisk pace, pausing slightly to shoot an apologetic look behind her.

Willow just spluttered. "Buffy…Buffy! Why…? I can't believe…"

Buffy just widened her eyes, trying to pull an innocent look together on her face. "Well I mean, she did seem like your type."

Willow's own eyes were widening, but more in a horrified way. "You thought! You explicitly told me that she was a smart, single witch who…was my type."

The blonde just looked sheepish. "I made a mistake. Maybe I just wanted to see you happy. And there she was with her books, and her witchy-ness and she seemed like she really liked you!"

"Yes! Yes! Liking somebody is all and well. BUT SHE WASN'T A LESBIAN!"

"Well…" Buffy's face turned slightly pink. "Now we know."

Willow just threw her hands in the air while making a defeated sounding clucking noise. "And we have to work with them too. I bet she's creeped out by me now."

Buffy wrapped her arm around Willow consolingly. "No she's not. She realizes that it was a mistake." Willow gave her a withering glare. "_My _mistake. I'm really sorry."

"Oh no…don't worry about it. Go talk to your what's-his-name."

"Really?" Buffy asked, perking up. "You don't mind?"

"No. Go. I'm sure that there are plenty of people who didn't witness my utter embarrassment."

"That's the spirit!" Buffy said, giving Willow another hug before dashing off.

* * *

If one didn't know better, they might have thought that Hermione Granger was about to choke to death.

It started with a look of realization. "Oh. Oh." Then her face turned an interesting shade of pink. "I'm not…not that there's anything wrong with that!" Her throat constricted with embarrassment and Willow looked just as mortified.

They stood there for another awkward moment, arms swinging and eyes glued to the floor. Willow just muttered "I hope you know this is _Buffy's _fault."

Hermione's voice was higher than usual. "Well. I'll just be going then." She didn't bother grabbing her drink. Hermione just walked. Away, wherever. Somewhere, she was sure her great aunt was snickering. "Well what can you expect? Girls that age should be going on dates, not sticking there noses in musty old books all day. If you don't get a boyfriend soon, people might _talk._" Hermione stomped towards the farthest empty table, almost in the shadows. She told herself that she was angry for being so inconsiderate and close-minded. But mostly she was thinking about her own relationship history. She didn't think that one chaste kiss on the cheek from Viktor Krum constituted as a relationship. She cringed, remembering her brief time with Ron. _Not a relationship so much as a train wreck. _Time had flown by, and she had tried to convince herself that she liked being alone. Harry and Ron were enough for her. But both Ron and Harry hadn't had trouble rebuilding after the war. They never introduced her to the girls they picked up at pubs. She tried to tell herself that they were embarrassed of those girls. Maybe they were. But she knew that they just didn't want to wave it in her face. Hermione, who hadn't kissed a man since she and Ron crashed and burned seventh year.

"Another victim of the Buffy Matchmaking Machine?"

Hermione started. She hadn't realized that someone else was there. "Yes, actually" she answered, realizing that it was Xander.

He laughed easily. "Buffy doesn't mean any harm to it. She just doesn't like seeing anybody alone anymore." He chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Don't understand why actually. Alone is a good lookfor us. Considering that our relationships usually consist of doomed love and end in unspeakable torment." His tone was light, but Hermione had no trouble believing the truth in his words. These were people who had lived on a hellmouth after all.

Hermione settled into her chair, suddenly more comfortable. She liked Xander. He seemed to be able to turn any awkward situation into a joke. And he obviously wasn't angry at her for turning down his best friend.

Harry, Ron and Hermione had taken an instant liking to the "Scoobies" as they were called. Andrew, former guestage and current annoyance had wasted no time drawing connections between the two groups, trumpeting the similarities of the Boy Who Lived and the Girl Who Died (twice), the brainy witches and the funnymen. Even Hermione had to admit that they had a lot in common. _Except that I'm not a lesbian_, she silently added. _Although I might as well be_.

Hermione and Xander sat silently for a moment, watching as Harry and Buffy talked animatedly several tables away. Her heart twisted painfully and she looked away quickly.

"Could we have expected anything less?" Xander asked quietly.

Hermione turned back to him, surprised. "No" she said in what sounded like a dutiful tone. "They're perfect for each other."

"Yeah" Xander snorted. "Buffy's always liked a guy with a cool nickname. Or title, whichever." He sobered a bit. "No, I guess you're right. I'm glad for Buffy. Moving on. But most importantly, moving on to a living, breathing human."

Hermione looked askance at him for a moment, deciding not to question Xander's meaning. She wasn't as nosy as she used to be. She didn't have the motivation anymore.

Xander continued. "She always seems to fall for guys who hurt her, who leave her. Anybody would get a complex." He paused. "Harry seems like a nice guy. He better stay that way."

They watched their best friends for another moment. Buffy was waving her hands excitedly before giving Harry a playful shove. Hermione rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling as she looked at Harry's face. He looked as if he had never seen a girl before. She loved that about Harry. He somehow managed to keep that oblivious, innocent charm despite all that he'd seen.

The Slayer and Harry Potter. If that wasn't the natural progression, Hermione didn't know what was. Still, she found that she couldn't look at the pair for more than a minute without feeling her insides clench. "Well I was being truthful when I said that they were a perfect couple." Yes perfect. They were always so bloody perfect. Hermione imagined them going on outings together, antique broadswords in hand. Taking turns killing demons and then off for a quick snog. That's how they would do it. Hermione suddenly wondered when she'd become so coarse. Or so cynical.

First there had been Cho, then Ginny. Now there was Buffy. The others didn't matter. Physically the three were as different as night, day and er..dawn. But that was Harry's type. The brave, beautiful quidditch playing girl. The natural progression was obvious. And in the blonde slayer, it was clear that Harry had finally met his match. For now that is. Hermione remembered Xander's words on relationships. These things always end badly.

Xander watched Hermione patiently. He knew that look. Hell, he probably patented that look. "I don't think they'll ever know how it feels."

"How what feels?" Hermione asked, her mind dragged back to reality.

"To be the one watching, worrying, analyzing."

"I wasn't…" Hermione started heatedly before deflating. "analyzing." She sighed. "I don't think that that's really fair. All they do is worry. It's kind of their job. I made Harry stop saying 'what-if' ages ago."

"Yes" Xander answered patiently. "They've been carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders for too long. But where do you think Harry would have been without a Hermione to bug him and scold him and advise him and protect him?"

"I've never thought of it that way" Hermione said. And it was true, she wasn't being modest. "But I'm sure that Harry would have done brilliantly without me. He's…" Hermione trailed off, unsure. "He's a hero."

"So are you" Xander added.

Hermione blushed, hitting Xander on the arm. "Now you're just making fun of me."

"No" Xander replied, leaning in earnestly. "You'd know if I was making fun of you. Listen to me. You're every bit the hero that Harry is."

"Doubtful."

Xander disregarded her muttered response. "And you want to know why? Because you had a choice."

"Yes and Harry didn't!" Hermione cried.

"Exactly." Xander nodded his head sagely.

"Exactly what?" Hermione asked, perplexed and a little upset.

"Nobody made you go fight evil. You made a choice. They have a destiny" he said, gesturing once again at Harry and Buffy. "We made a choice and we chose them."

Hermione sat, thunderstruck for a moment. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"See?" he asked playfully. "And you thought it was books that made you smart."

"Pshh, silly me" Hermione answered sarcastically.

Somehow, things seemed a little lighter, a little more manageable. "I love him you know" Hermione blurted out before clapping her hand over her mouth.

Hermione wasn't sure when it began. It wasn't something she could pinpoint. Maybe sometime around third year. Maybe sooner. But Hermione soon figured out that she liked Harry differently than Ron. But even then, Hermione had realized that Harry could never think of her that way. She watched as he began that silly, doomed and utterly pointless relationship with Cho. Hermione even helped him along. She knew who Harry liked, and it wasn't her. It was the wizard equivalent of The Girl Who Can Change a Tire. Girls who made his palms sweaty and his tongue feel too big for his mouth. Girls who weren't Hermione. Maybe that was why she had also championed his relationship with Ginny. Ginny hadliked him for so long and so patiently. Maybe she hoped that if Harry realized how great Ginny was, one day he'd make a similar realization about Hermione.

So she chose Ron. Because he liked her in the same hopeless way that she liked Harry. They had been friends for years and Hermione couldn't have thought of a better guy. Of course, in hindsight, she was surprised that their breakup never ruined their friendship. It had ended on the day that Ron said "I love you" and Hermione couldn't say it back.

Hermione now couldn't help feeling that her being alone was intrinsically linked to Harry. She knew that she could never lie to herself again the way she had with Ron. So here she was, stuck in purgatory, waiting for the day when she no longer loved Harry Potter. _That _way.

"Of course. I love Buffy too." Hermione didn't say anything. She stared down at her hands. She was just glad that Xander had misinterpreted her words. Xander fixed his eye on the blushing girl. "You know, I think that they were wrong."

"Who were wrong about what?"

"About you and Willow being the same and me and Ron being the same. I think that we're a lot alike."

"How so?" Hermione asked, intrigued but trying to sound casual.

"It gets a bit lonely being the only guy in girltown." Hermione quirked an eyebrow. Xander backtracked. "Or you know, the only girl in guytown."

Hermione laughed.

"But seriously" Xander paused. "I don't think that they know how to love you and me the way we love them." Hermione felt her throat tighten. Hadn't she always known that? "I used to think of Buffy. _That _way."

"And?" Hermione asked quietly, already knowing the answer.

"Well obviously she never thought of me _that _way. Of course, by the time that I woke up and realized that Wills was a girl…well let's just say that that ship has sailed."

"Men" Hermione said sadly, but with a faint smile on her lips.

Xander shrugged. "The thing I'm trying to say is that I got over it. We all got over it. And we're still best friends."

"I can't get over it!" Hermione cried, pounding a fist on the table in frustration. The silverware gave a surprised clank.

Xander smiled. "Okay maybe 'get over it' was the wrong phrase. What I meant was to do what you do best. Wait. Watch. Decide."

Hermione and Xander turned to watch Harry and Buffy again. They were still laughing and chatting enthusiastically. Hermione predicted a year or two. In that time, maybe she'd finally take a vacation. Travel the world, meet someone new. But she knew that that would only last a couple months. There was only so much time that she could spend apart her best friends. But she knew that she could no longer live like this. Watching. Waiting. Deciding.

"Yep" Hermione said, turning back to him. "Always the heroes."

**The End.**

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Ahh, right now I'm imagining Andrew taping his own Harry/Buffy crossover event.

Haha, umm. The H/Hr shipper in me got a little agressive. I don't know what happened, she just grabbed the wheel from me and went crazy. I really hope that this didn't cancel the point of my other story. I'm already feeling less enthusiastic. Damn! Okay, I promise to stop muttering. Please review!


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